text: Traian V. Chirilă (born 14 February 1948 in Arad, Romania) is a Romanian-Australian polymer and organic chemist who is the inventor of AlphaCor, an artificial cornea in current clinical use throughout the world.
  His past and current research has contributed in several areas of biomaterials, polymer science and bioengineering, especially in the understanding of biomaterials and biocompatibility, in the development of polymers, hydrophilic sponges, artificial cornea, artificial vitreous substitutes and in topics such as interaction of laser radiation with polymers, photoresponsive polymers, supramolecular polymers, sustained release of bioactive agents, tissue engineering and the use of polymers in genetic therapies.